My Boys – Chapter 20

Amelia rushed to the door, stopping Owen before he could leave the room.

"Owen Hunt, get your ass back in here right now!" She used the same voice she used to reprimand their sons when they were acting out.

Owen ignored her completely and took two large strides towards the stairs, but Amelia firmly stood in front of him, both hands splayed on his chest pushing him back.

"Owen!" She called him out with fierce determination. When he stopped, Amelia used his hesitation to take him back to the attendings' lounge and closed the door after them "Stay right here. You are not going anywhere."

"Amelia," Owen tried to get past her "The guy hurt you. He actually, physically hurt you. The least I should do is beat the shit out of him."

"I am not defending him, but seriously? You're gonna go there and do what, beat him up?" Owen looked at her like that was the obvious answer but Amelia carried on "You're not gonna resort to violence. James grabbed my arm to make me stay and listen to what he had to say but obviously he didn't mean to hurt me-"

"I don't mean to hurt him," Owen interrupted her and added ironically "Much."

Amelia couldn't help chuckling at his rebelliousness and Owen was contaminated by her, feeling calmer.

"Promise me you won't go pick a fight with him upstairs," She demanded.

"Amelia…"

"Promise me!"

He paced back and forth for a few seconds, struggling.

"Okay," Owen gave in, frustrated. He ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to be rational. Deep inside, he was boiling with anger and all he wanted to do was go downstairs and punch the guy in the face. But he knew there were a million reasons why he shouldn't.

"Owen?" Amelia could see the hesitation still lingering in his eyes.

"Fine!" He raised his hands in a surrender gesture and got away from the door, sitting on one of the couches in an attempt to calm down.

Amelia sat down by his side and took a deep breath too. She then held his hand between hers and gently kissed it before saying:

"I know it's taking you all you have and more not to go downstairs right now and solve this thing the old fashioned way," She admitted, thankful she had been able to get through to him "I know you feel protective of me and I can see why this would drive you mad. So, know that I appreciate you having my back. Thank you."

Owen let out a heavy sigh and squeezed her hand tighter, silently answering her.

"I'm gonna spend the rest of the day in the OR, because I am afraid if I go downstairs, I might end up breaking my promise," Owen confessed. He got up and leaned over, giving Amelia a kiss on the cheek before getting ready to leave.

"You make me so proud," Amelia teased, blowing a kiss his direction before she watched him leave, visibly much calmer than he had been just a few minutes before.

.

Owen made it home before Amelia that evening, and it was up to him to cook dinner for them and the boys. It was already past the boys' bedtime when she finally arrived, dumping her handbag on the floor and crashing on the couch.

"Are you okay?" Owen asked from the kitchen, seeing the look of defeat in her. After putting the boys to bed, he'd come back to put the dishes in the washer.

"I am exhausted," Amelia confessed, painfully shifting on the couch to take what she realized was a toy car from beneath her back. She tossed it aside before asking "Hey, aren't you going to basketball tonight?"

"I didn't know if you were gonna make it home in time for me to go," Owen said, approaching her in the living room and giving her a kiss on the head "You look awful, babe. Do you want me to stay?"

"No, go," Amelia gave him a smile despite her exhaustion "The boys are already asleep and I plan to do the same as soon as I eat something."

"Okay, then." Owen said excitedly and went up to get his gym bag.

Every Monday evening, Owen played basketball with the guys from the hospital. It was a fifteen minute drive to the club and almost everyone was already there. He saw Ben Warren amidst the crowd and went over to talk to him. Owen had just finished answering Ben's question about how Amelia had been feeling that week when he couldn't believe the sight in front of him.

Walking side by side with a third year surgical resident, came James Peterson, the person Owen wanted the least to see. His resident introduced him to the rest of the guys, and explained how he had mentioned the game from earlier that day and James had been interested. Everyone happily welcomed him to the group, but only Ben noticed Owen didn't look happy at all.

"What's up, man?" Ben asked, crushing Owen's chest with a basketball "Looks like you've seen a ghost or something."

Owen stopped imagining ways to hurt James Peterson and looked at his friend.

"Let's just play."

To Owen's satisfaction, he was picked to a different team than James. The ER doctor had greeted Owen the same way he had greeted everybody else, and he didn't seem to have noticed the surgeon had clearly avoided his gaze.

Owen had made a promise to Amelia that he wouldn't pick a fight with James on purpose, but he hadn't said anything about James picking a fight with him. Throughout the entire game, he couldn't help being more physical than usual, especially towards James. The final blow came when Owen disputed a ball with him and easily won the possession, but knocked James on the face with his shoulder before they both landed from their jump.

"I think maybe you should take a break," Ben tactfully said to Owen while some other guys helped James with his bleeding nose. Ben had noticed the treatment Owen had reserved for the new guy, but didn't dare get into the matter. He knew Owen was a private guy, but he was always very peaceful and played very fairly. So, there had to be a reason why he was acting so awkwardly.

"You know what, I'll just hit the showers," Owen said, still angry about the situation, but relieved he'd been able to at least get back at James somehow.

Already at the locker room, Owen started to gather his stuff. He hadn't been there for five minutes when he heard someone storming in. He wasn't surprised to see it was James, still holding a pack of ice on his face.

"What's your damn problem?" James straightforward asked, visibly irritated.

Owen turned his back on him and walked away, deciding it wasn't worth to discuss with the guy, but James followed him and insistently took his attention by standing up in his way.

"You don't want to do this, Peterson," Owen warned him, raising one finger.

"Do what, exactly?" James asked, nervously. "Is this about your wife? Because…"

"Don't you dare talk about my wife!" Owen's voice sounded dangerously calm as he interrupted the conversation.

James had always known Owen wasn't exactly his biggest fan, but the surgeon had always treated him with civility. After all, they worked together. But today, he was visibly frustrated and the only reason James could think of to explain his changed behavior was the conversation he'd had with Amelia earlier that day. He probably knew about it already, most likely from Amelia.

"So, what, now I can't talk to her?" James frowned, visibly annoyed. He didn't see the harm in it, and couldn't figure out why the surgeon was so out of his mind. Owen thought he looked pathetic, standing in front of him with a bleeding nose, trying to act toughly. "You can't make me not talk to her, you know?" James spitefully provoked, unable to hold back his jealousy.

Owen Hunt had married his fiancé. The children James had once dreamed of having with her were Owen's. He was the one Amelia came home to and James couldn't understand what the guy had that was so special. But she was in love with him and he was the one who made her happy, despite James thinking he could be a much better man to Amelia. In his mind, nothing about that was fair.

"Oh, you can talk to her alright," Owen kept his low voice, seeing how intimidated the other guy was by his voice and his physical superiority when he took two steps in James' direction, engulfing him with his presence "But you do as much as lay a finger on her again, I will do the same to you" Owen looked suggestively at his bleeding nose and the newly black eye "And I promise you I won't be as gentle as I was tonight."

He then slammed one of the locker doors after him, startling James and with a smile of pride on his face, walked away triumphantly, knowing he had finally made peace with that situation.

.

Owen walked into his bedroom expecting to find Amelia already deeply asleep but to his surprise, he found her relaxing in the bathtub. She greeted him silently when he walked into the bathroom, watching as he took a quick shower to get rid of his gym sweat.

"Are you okay in there?" Owen approached her, with a towel wrapped around his waist. "You look exhausted, babe. Don't you wanna go to bed?"

"I stood in the OR for God knows how many hours today," She explained. "My feet are killing me."

Owen knew that standing up for hours was hard on anyone, let alone on a pregnant woman. He saw the need in her eyes and quickly unwrapped his towel, gently joining her in the bathtub, sitting opposite to his wife.

Amelia sunk in the bathtub all the way to her neck when she felt his large hands reaching for her feet and gently massaging them. Even though that could be quite a turn on, at that moment it had a much more relaxing effect.

"Oh, I love you so much right now…" Her voice sounded hoarse.

Owen chuckled and kissed her ankle playfully.

"You know, I think I might have been a bit of a dick today," He confessed.

Amelia opened her eyes and looked at him, visibly puzzled. Owen then proceeded to tell her the events of that evening but even though she disapproved of his physical antics, she was happy he hadn't turned it into a bigger circus.

"To be honest, I am too tired to be mad at you at the moment," Amelia stared at him, "Especially if arguing with you would cost me this massage."

"It would," Owen winked mischievously and gently pulled her legs, making her slide on the bathtub straight into his arms "I am actually feeling sorry for you, you know?" He chuckled, seeing the drained look on her face. Owen wrapped both arms around her, making her rest her back against his chest and kissed her temple with affection.

Amelia left out a sound yawn and nestled closer to him, feeling the warmth of his solid body. Owen's hand traveled to her belly, where it stopped, feeling the growing bump beneath his open palm.

"How is little Dave doing?" He asked, rubbing her gently. He had gotten used to the idea of having a fifth son and the thought had been growing on him, especially now he realized he'd have enough boys to make a basketball team.

"Very, very well," Amelia intertwined her fingers with his and kept her eyes closed, enjoying their cuddling "It's driving me crazy to think about the move. I don't know how we'll handle it."

"That's why we hired a company to do it," Owen reminded her, kissing her cheek when she playfully bit his arm.

"Yes, but we have to sort out all of our private stuff, which means once again we're gonna go crazy with paperwork, and documents, and then there are the kids…" She rambled "Not to mention my schedule at work is absolutely full because I had to anticipate all my spring surgeries since the baby is…"

Owen interrupted her with a kiss on her lips. When she didn't protest, he held her jaw with one hand, deepening the kiss, until she was smiling against his mouth.

"What was I saying?" Amelia teased, feeling him wrap his arms around her even tighter.

"We were just thinking about going to sleep," Owen lied, making her laugh.

They got out of the bath and once already dressed in their comfortable pajamas, fell asleep in each other's arms.

.

The following weeks flew by. They were so busy with the move they didn't have time to concentrate on anything else.

Amelia's pregnancy progressed smoothly, as all of her previous ones. In her two following ultrasounds, their son was either moving too much or showing his back, so they never got to see his face or have his image to keep.

"You know what," Amelia said, frustrated, while she helped Owen unpack boxes at their new house. They were slowly moving their personal stuff but the actual move was scheduled for the following week "We should have his butt printed. This way, when he asks us for his first baby picture, I will give that to him."

Owen laughed, thinking about the likely troublemaker that was on the way. He could barely wait. Amelia was already at thirty eight weeks and she could go into labor at any minute now. Bailey and Owen had made her stop operating but she would still show up at the hospital, telling people from her department what to do and how to do it, in her usual bossy manner.

"Why is this house so quiet?" She looked up from the box of books to Owen, suspiciously.

Owen looked around. He didn't see or hear any of the boys and that was slightly alarming. Together, they made their way from the living room to the rooms upstairs, whose walls had just finished being painted.

"Oh my God!" Amelia's eyes were wide with shock when she saw the scene in front of them. "You guys are green!"

Lucas proudly held a paintbrush and there was green paint all over his hands, arms and on the floor. But most importantly, Robbie and Danny were completely covered in paint, from their heads to their toes

"Did you just paint your brothers?" Amelia asked with disbelief.

"What the hell…?" Owen frowned too, noticing the twins. Only their blue eyes stood out amidst all the green. He wanted to laugh, but he saw the look on Amelia's face and held it back.

"Tommy said that if we mixed black paint with this light green, we would get the color of Hulk," Lucas explained, very seriously "So we did it and now we're trying it on to see if it works." The boy added, as if that was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

Amelia's eyes searched the room and she saw Thomas on the corner, with his hands clean and his perfectly tidy clothes. The guilt was evident in his eyes. He was too smart for his own good, Amelia thought. And also to get his hands dirty.

"I don't know if I should start with you," She looked from Thomas to Lucas "Or with you," Her voice was dangerously calm, as she felt a familiar pain assaulting her lower back.

"Maybe we should start here," Owen suggested, picking the twins to take them straight to the shower but then he heard a gentle scream coming from Amelia's mouth.

"What happened?" He asked, nervously.

"My water," Amelia explained, taking her hands to her abdomen as she slowly felt the beginning of a new contraction as her legs got soaked with a warm liquid "My water just broke."

.

Never in Owen's wildest dreams would he had imagined entering an ER with a screaming wife in labor; two sons covered in green paint and the other two looking extremely confused. This was Amelia's fifth labor, so it was to be expected it progressed faster than usual. All he could manage to do before grabbing their bags and getting his family in the car was to call his mother and notify the hospital.

April Kepner was already at the ER entrance waiting for them with a wheelchair for Amelia. She noticed the messy situation with the kids and questioned him with his eyes.

"Don't ask," Owen said, pushing Amelia's chair to the elevator "Where is Warren?"

"He is already waiting for you guys upstairs," April said, stretching her hands to get the twins from his arms "I'll handle the wicked ones here," She grinned, and led the way for Thomas and Lucas too "Come on guys, I think I have some of Joey's toy cars in my purse, let's go get them."

Thomas and Lucas hesitantly followed their aunt April while Owen rushed with Amelia, hopping on the first elevator.

"Oh, damn, I wanna kill you!" Amelia screamed when she felt another stinging contraction causing a wave of excruciating pain.

"We'll take care of this in a second, babe, I love you," Owen said, pressing the elevator button, hating to see her suffer. "Oh, God, I can't believe it, this is happening again," He said between excitement and worry.

Warren and the OB team were already waiting for them. The whole procedure lasted less than an hour. Owen stood by Amelia's side and felt his hand nearly break when she squeezed it as hard as she could to help her push.

"I can see his head, Amelia, keep pushing," Ben advised, paying attention to every little move. He was worried about Cephalopelvic Disproportion, a condition where the baby's head was too large to pass through the mother's pelvis. He had studied Amelia's files during her pre natal consults and he'd seen that the same condition had been suspected during her previous labors.

"Ben, what's wrong?" Amelia asked between contractions when she saw the preoccupied look on his face.

"You're at ten centimeters and I can see the head right here," Ben tried to keep her calm, "Just take a deep breath and push. We can't risk having him on the birth canal for too long."

Amelia knew that if the baby didn't pass, he was at risk for oxygen deprivation. She looked up at Owen, worriedly, silently seeking for his support. His hand traveled to her face and very firmly he told her:

"Amelia, you can do this," Owen ran his hand through her hair, gently pulling it back up to make her more comfortable. He hated that they were in that situation, again. Owen tried his best to remain calm, for the sake of his wife and child. Drops of sweat ran through her neck and he could see the veins popping up as she pushed harder when another contraction hit her.

"Amelia," They both noticed the change in Ben's voice and looked at him, desperately. When Warren was sure she was between contractions and could pay attention, he added "Listen, the baby moved and he is compressing the chord. That's compromising his blood flow. You have to do this, now" His voice was firm and Amelia didn't have time to be desperate.

She realized her baby was in actual danger of being without oxygenated blood and the risks were too high. Feeling taken over by strength she never knew she could ever feel, she pushed as hard as her body could. An awful sensation of pain assaulted her as she felt her insides being stretched to the limit, but after a fraction of second, all the pain was gone.

A baby's cry sounded like music to her ears and amidst all the emotions, she started to cry too. Owen looked from Ben's hands to her and he cried along with her, sharing her happiness. But their smiles quickly vanished when they saw the terrorized look on Ben Warren's face.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked, leaning over to see her baby for the first time, afraid of what she would see. Ben Warren looked mortified and she knew that meant something definitely wasn't right. A million possibilities ran through Amelia's mind until she couldn't take it any longer. Moving on the chair even though the clamp hadn't been cut yet, Amelia hysterically asked "Ben, for God's sake, tell me! What is wrong with David?"